60% funded!

Hey everyone,

I am so excited to see us hit 60%! We still have 12 days to go and I think we will hit our funding goal no problem. Hopefully we will reach a couple of funding reward levels as well.

To give a little push this weekend I am going to post a few new backer rewards including new original artwork! These come with the printed book, the pdf and an original piece of art from one of our featured artists!

First we have two of Sam Flegal’s pieces – 

The Goblin Chieftain 8×10 drawing – $185

The High Elves of Uteria, (drawing) – $438

From Adam Baker:

The Varag and His Goblin Minions, 14×18 Acrylic on Masonite (unfinished at the moment, will be full color) – $530

From Michael Bielaczyc:

Orovari Elf, pencil on paper, 11×14 – $185

Forest Elf Guardian – 8×11, pencil. $120

That’s it for now, As more artwork gets finished, hopefully we will have more to post for rewards!

Also, here is a sneak peak of the cover image. This is the black and white comp for the final painting!

The Art for The Elves of Uteria Kickstarter Rewards

We have two options to add artwork to your funding donation and I wanted to give you an idea of the artwork available. These are the main paintings that have been sent in already. There will be more art added as they come in, so keep your eyes open!

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Elf Sorceress by Melissa Gay

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The Elves of Uteria Cover (unfinished, sketch)

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The Evantyrian Elves by Sam Flegal

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The Wyvere by Aaron Miller

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Wild Elf by Sarah Frary

The Elflings of Uteria is now available!

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I just uploaded the Elflings of Uteria, a 10 page preview for the Elves book. I wanted to give everyone a taste for our writing style.

It is a 10 page pdf that follows one of Jarin’s first adventures with the fey of Uteria. He learns their customs and culture, and this inspires him to travel the lands and learn more of the various races of Uteria. It includes the history, culture and beliefs of the Elflings, as well as gaming stats for the race and stats for the Unmen monsters.

Pick it up for free at:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/113927/The-Elflings-of-Uteria

Thanks,

Mike

Official Press Release for the Elves of Uteria

The Elves of Uteria

Lone Wanderer Entertainment, in association with Aradani Studios, Inc, announces the launch of the Kickstarter for the book, The Elves of Uteria.

Written by Michael Bielaczyc and Dane Clark Collins, the Elves of Uteria is a sourcebook featuring a new look at elven cultures, based in the original World of Uteria.

Artists in the book include: Adam Baker, Michael Bielaczyc, Paul Bielaczyc, Larry Elmore, Sarah Frary, Melissa Gay, and Aaron B Miller

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What is in the book?

The Elves of Uteria is a story heavy source book featuring an original re-imagining of fantasy elves. The book will be at least 100 pages with plenty of art, fiction and gaming material.

The Elves of Uteria is told through the eyes of Jarin Plainswalker, as Druid from the Western Council who was tasked with re-establishing contact with the elves of the world. The five different cultures of the elves are explored, as well as the elflings, who are the fey cousins of the elves.

Jarin keeps records of the places he goes, so the book will include maps of Uteria, the towns and pathways he uses, and the creatures he encounters.

The Kickstarter

You can help fund the kickstarter today, please visit: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/michaelbielaczyc/the-elves-of-uteria-rpg-sourcebook

About the World of Uteria

The world of Uteria has lived in darkness for years beyond count. It has been ravaged by plagues for hundreds of years. An ancient war ravaged the land with dark magics.For a long time, the humans have trudged along, afraid of the myths and legends left over from the past.

The old kingdoms have crumbled, leaving behind city states and large tracks of unclaimed lands. In the East the land is harsh and twisted, the remnants of the dark sorcery that had been used in the Aradan War have left the lands almost uninhabitable, save for small pockets of civilization. In the west, in the wake of the plagues, people had become isolated and exclusive. Fear has driven people to be wary of anyone or anything new. Their superstitions have lead to witch hunts and lynching of those believed to use magic. People have become so downtrodden that even their belief in higher powers has fallen to little more than lip service.

But all of that has begun to change in the last 20 years. Children are showing the ability to use magic. Real magic. The elves have started to come out of their forests and having limited interactions with others. The dwarves have begun to trade again, traveling the roads plying their mechanical and trade works. And whispers of dark powers, heroes, and a new dawn have begun to creep into this rain soaked and gray world.

 

Playtesting the Ferryport Adventures rpg Series

So the group got together tonight and we ran through another section of the Ferryport Adventures. And it was so much fun! We have a really good crew of players and thanks to some of my recent research into RPG programs, the game went extremely smooth tonight.

I have been using MapTool a lot lately while designing, and this has really changed the way  I design and GM. Being an artist, I always figured I was a little more visually stimulated while playing RPGs, but tonight I realized how much.

I spend quite a bit of time coming up with the story arcs, character back stories, and locales, but tonight, when I had a map projected behind me, it really helped with acting though many of the scenes. I am not an actor, but when I had a token with a character face in it, and a general feel for how a environment is, I had a much easier time confronting the players as that NPC. If they went to see the captain of the watch, I made a quick map of his office and they had to position their character tokens to show how they stood in the room. In the dungeon part, MapTool easily shows what characters had line of site of monsters, or if monsters were partially concealed, and that lead to a much more strategic style of gameplay.

Here is a screen cap during our game tonight to get a feel.

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Deep in the Sewers of Fish Town

MapTool is completely free, so if you game, I highly recommend using it!

Most times after running a game, I am reminded why I got into the fantasy genre, but tonight I felt like a 13 year old kid, watching my world come to life.

In other news, I am on the road for the next two weeks, but should have time to work on the elf book some more. As March approaches  we are getting a lot closer to starting the Kickstarter, so keep your eyes open!

 

Another new RPG tool!

I recently found Maptool, which is a GM’s dream. I love describing a place to players, but I have often found that in large groups (which is what I tend to play with) without a visual representation, players can get unfocused and forget whats happening. I have always wanted a way to display maps to players without revealing whats coming.

And Maptool does this.

I will be posting some maps soon for everyone to check out.